Evolving into a tricky exhibit

An exhibition celebrating the life of Charles Darwin, which is
slated for the National Museum of Australia later this decade, has
failed to find a corporate sponsor in the United States because
American companies are anxious not to take sides in the heated
debate between scientists and fundamentalist Christians over the
theory of evolution.

The entire $US3 million ($1.7 million) cost of Darwin,
which opened at the American Museum of Natural History in New York
at the weekend, is instead being borne by wealthy individuals and
private donations.

The failure of American companies to back the exhibition
reflects the growing influence of fundamentalist Christians, who
are among President George Bush's most vocal supporters, in all
walks of life in the US.

While the Darwin exhibition, which features a live
Galapagos tortoise, has been unable to find a business backer, the
Creationist Museum near Cincinnati, Ohio, which takes literally the
Bible's account of creation, has recently raised $7 million in
donations.

The outbreak of corporate cold feet has shocked New York's
intellectuals. "It is a disgrace that large companies should shy
away from such an important scientific exhibition," said a trustee
of another prominent museum in the city. "They tried to find
corporate sponsors, but everyone backed off."

Creationism is increasingly widely backed in America. A CBS News
poll last month found 51 per cent of Americans reject the theory of
evolution, believing instead that God created humans in their
present form. Another poll in August found 38 per cent of Americans
think creationism should be taught in schools, instead of
evolution.

In Dover, Pennsylvania, last week, a jury began considering a
case brought by parents against a school board that insisted
"intelligent design", which argues that a supernatural force
populated the Earth, be taught alongside evolution.

The American Museum of Natural History is coy about its failure
to find corporate money to mount the exhibition, which will tour
the US before moving to London's Natural History Museum in 2009 to
mark the bicentenary of Darwin's birth.

Steve Reichl, a press officer for the American museum, said a
list of forthcoming exhibitions was sent to potential sponsors and
none wanted to back the Darwin exhibition. He declined to
reveal the companies approached.

A prominent Metropolitan Museum donor said: "You can understand
why the Museum of Natural History might not want to admit such a
thing.

"They are concerned about finding corporate funding for
exhibitions in the future."

The museum will have to depend more heavily upon the profits of
its Darwin-related merchandise to finance the cost of staging the
exhibition, including a 30-centimetre Darwin doll, Darwin finger
puppets and, for $950, a replica of Darwin's ship, the Beagle, made
in China and assembled in Vietnam.

Niles Eldredge, the exhibition's curator, confirmed that the
exhibition was intended to redress the balance in the battle
between scientists and creationist Christians. "This is for the
schoolchildren of America," he said. "This is the evidence of
evolution."

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